The Beam and The Guardrails; The American Dream

     I've just spent three weeks in what is statistically the happiest city on Earth: Aalborg, Denmark. It's a simple, obscure little city with one major feature that attracts tourists, which is, to my surprise, not at all it's statistical happiness, but a short walking street of several bars and night clubs. My goal in spending this time in Denmark was mostly just to take a break from being in America where things have gotten a little shady and politically unpleasant. My other goal was to learn a little bit more about what life is like in Denmark, why the people are apparently so happy, and maybe how i could one day find myself with a more or less permanent home there. It was a gorgeous, life-altering experience that made way for me to take hold of the greatest degree of joy i have ever experienced while completely sober. It is the happiest city in the world. And it's such a simple place, with such simple people, but most importantly, such simple pleasures.
     Denmark has a very unique culture in the way of its simplicity, where all of the complexities of management and systematic population organization, law enforcement, etcetera are removed from the citizen and handled by a government who has its citizens well-being in mind at all times. Don't misunderstand, Danish bureaucracies are just as complicated and frustrating to deal with as any other bureaucracy, if you're a foreigner. But when you're born into the prestigious Club that is Being Danish, all of these complications are taken care of for you from the start. Schools teach classes and courses on how to do taxes and what the laws are and why from a very early age, and continue maintaining that education well into adolescence to the point where knowing how to do these things is integral, unquestioned knowledge, like how to perform hygiene or put on clothes. The Danish government offers a great deal of help in Becoming a Person from the beginning, and from there, continues to offer support throughout the life of a citizen in the form of free education up until about age 18, and then pays their citizens to continue going to school beyond that. Essentially, their entire welfare and social security systems are more or less fail safe.
     It made me think very much of having bumpers when bowling. The general goal is to live a long and relatively healthy life and most importantly, to be happy. The Danish government sets up their citizens for success by providing the baseline needs on Mazlow's hierarchy of needs like shelter and relationships (the class you're educated with is likely to remain the same for most of your entire education in Denmark) and enabling people to achieve the greater points of the pyramid much more easily. Danes have an incredibly strong sense of belonging and community based on the number of traditions and cultural standards they participate in. They also have a system that fully supports you should you falter or fail. If you're let go from your job, or even if you decide to quit, the government will provide for you about 80% of whatever wage you were earning as a working citizen for as long as it takes you to find a different job. It's called Flexicurity. Basically, your occupation is a flexible aspect of your life, and should you decide to change it, your earnings are secure. Healthcare is completely covered. Going to the doctor is free. Medicines do cost money, but the price of the medicine is usually about exactly what the materials are worth. In Denmark, health is not a capitalist economy, it's a basic human right. You have a fair amount of room to be yourself, and if you mess up the consequences are fairly minimal. It's like if you're walking on a beam, and there are guardrails on either side of you. You can balance and support yourself, but if you tilt to one side or the other, there's something there to catch you.
     This gave me a bit of perspective on the way people see the US. Having been born and raised there, never even having left until this trip i just returned from, i took a lot of the opportunities and advantages for granted, even to the point of neglecting their very existence. It never occurred to me that there were places where it was only possible to make a certain amount of money, where you weren't allowed to make yourself into something you could consider "bigger" or "better" than the people around you. In Denmark, the education and healthcare systems are supported by really high taxes, and every single adult citizen pays those taxes relative to what they earn. What you pay is strictly a percentage of your wage--to a point. When you get into the higher brackets of earnings, you also pay higher taxes, because your ability to contribute dictates your obligation to contribute. In Denmark, everyone is in it together, and if you try to shoot past everyone else, there are systems that keep you as part of the same community. You don't get to take advantage of everyone else. No one is better than anyone else.
     In the US, these guardrails don't exist. You're still walking on the same beam, and for as long as you can keep your balance, you get to grow yourself as big as you want to, boundlessly. This is the American Dream. Opportunity. Everyone wants to grow their selves to be big, rich, posh. Everyone wants the fancy car, the big house on a hill, the high paying job with low demand on the individual.
     The problem i've always had with the so-called American Dream is that there are as many, if not more opportunities to fail as there are to succeed. The bigger you grow yourself, the easier it becomes to topple over on one side or the other, especially if you grow too quickly to learn to keep your balance. And once you start to fall, the harder it becomes to regain your balance. If you do fall completely off this beam, it becomes nigh impossible to get back up again. This is the trap and cycle of poverty. In the US, about 1% of the population holds, owns, and controls about 99% of the wealth it enjoys. The other 99% are forced to squabble and fight over this 1% of wealth they have available in order to, not at all succeed, but simply to survive. The United (pfft) States of America is a Marxist, capitalist world where it truly is survival of the fittest, and the fittest tend to take advantage of the less able, the less privileged, the little guys.
     This issue is a cancer in the world. It supports an idea that less "productive" humans are less valuable, less human, and therefore exploitable with little to no guilt or responsibility. The American Dream may be a dream, if you can get it right, you can go far, but the price is dear, but only to those who pay it, not to whom it is paid. It's a severe imbalance, a speed wobble in the back wheel of modern life. When the bike tips, everyone will go with it, not just the back wheel.
     On the other hand, life in Denmark, a socialist country, may be lovely... but it's a little bland. It's almost too easy. The privilege Danish citizens enjoy is beginning to, unfortunately, make the people more complacent. They tend to take things for granted, such as their health. Danes consume more tobacco and alcohol than almost any other wealthy country, and it's because if you overdose, you can just go to the doctor for free. They consider it a right to abuse their own bodies as they see fit, and never consider the consequences because the actual risk has been all but removed. It's almost like an over-indulgent dystopia. Every traditional meal, every party, every weekend, is accompanied by a glass of licorice flavored schnapps, some wine or beer, some mixed drink with spirits. Everyone smokes casually through the day. There are still establishments in Denmark where it's perfectly okay to smoke indoors. The people are arguably bored, and counteract it with stimulants and substances. The ease with which they live their lives enables them to achieve self-actualization, but it's a privilege, and the nature of privilege is that it is blinding. Entitlement breeds neglect.
     Nowhere is perfect. Nowhere has it together to the point of being a flawless society. No people is immune to suicide risk, depression, discontent. But some places have it together a little better than others. Lead by example. Denmark is statistically one of the happiest countries in the world because of their contentedness, and it's a bit of an exclusive club. It's not easy to inject yourself into a place like that. It's also not easy to be an immigrant in America. Hell, it isn't exactly easy to be an immigrant anywhere.
     But here's my thing. As corny as it sounds, and with as many negative connotations as it may have, i tend to consider myself a Child of the World. I value my humanity over my gender, race, nationality, or economic class. I value the humanity of my fellow humans over anything else they may have or be. If this were to become the forefront of our focus, if it were to become more highly valued when considering the capabilities and potential of any individual, more people might be a little more willing to help each other out. Oneness by no means indicates sameness, as you are one human, and have many different parts that function different ways, but you are still, altogether, one entity. I feel the same way about humanity.
     We are ill. We have developed bad habits, have enabled cancers and infections to grow all over ourselves rampantly. It's up to us to heal. To shed the diseased flesh and to grow ourselves into something we want to be. Everyone has a purpose. Everyone has advantages, unique skills, everyone is valuable. But there is a balance to be had.
     Everyone can walk on the beam together if we stop trampling over each other, if we stop gluttonously growing ourselves and knocking others off. We can also shift the guardrails to widen and enable a greater variety of people to live the way they want to. We can have both the guardrails, and the American Dream. We just have to help each other. We have to enable each other.
     What you send out will return to you. If you with to be loved, love. If you wish to be helped, help. If you wish to learn, teach. Grow your idea of your "self" to include others, your family, your town, your country, and suddenly you become part of something bigger that can give your life more meaning.